I really enjoyed Townsend's Adrian Mole series, but this title did not live up to that standard. Although parts of it were laugh out loud funny, the writing was very inconsistent, and the multiple story lines passed the line of credulity.

In short, Number Ten is about not only the UK Prime Minister at Number Ten Downing Street but also his police escort, Jack Sprat (I'm sorry, she couldn't come up with a better name???) who grew up at a Number Ten address on another street. The two of them attempt to travel the UK, in cognito, to show the PM what the country is really like.

Without any spoilers, I will simply say their attempts of "in cognito" were unnecessarily ridiculous, and the descriptions of commonwealth life drifted too far into satire for this Yank to understand.

Not a bad book, and there were enough humorous parts to string the entire story together, but I expected more from the wit behind Adrian Mole. ( )

Sue Townsend isn't fond of New Labour, or by the way she writes this book of Tony & Cheri Blair either. Thinly disguised as Edward Clare and Adele Flouret-Clare, these two are out of touch & clueless as to how normal British people actually live in the New Millennium. They spout platitudes, wallow in their self-absorbed New Age fads, and are generally despicable. Ms. Townsend has made a career of gentle satire. We all know that Adrian Mole is ridiculous, but we have sympathy and affection for him nonetheless. There is no sympathy for the Clares. One hopes that Ms. Townsend finds something in life to make her life happier. She's become very bitter in her recent novels. ( )

Totally enjoyable Labour government bashing silliness. The satire is a little too broad to be totally satisfying but it's a fun romp of a read and just close enough to reality to be borderline plausible. Ish. ( )

From the author of the Adrian Mole Diaries comes this hilarious book about the Prime Minister trying to get in touch with his people by coming out in public dressed as a woman. There are depressing moments when you realize that the PM has no clue of the real world anymore, and the normal problems of the common people sometimes just did not sink in with him. He always replied with a governmental solution, and I am sure England being like the US, we know sometimes they just do not work. But overall, the book was a fun read, a great collection of weird characters along the way. I recommend this book as a fun quick read. ( )